Slimming down legs?!
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alicepalmer_
Posts: 4 Member
All my weight seems to go to my legs... what are the best excercises everyone has for slimming down your legs ? (Especially calves)
2
Replies
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You cannot spot reduce. The only way to lose fat is to eat at a calorie deficit and lose weight overall.8
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Am I right in assuming you are a pear shape? Your body shape you will have to learn to love. As for spot reducing, that is not possible.
Making sure you have some muscle tone will help hold fat in place and make it appear better, but the fat itself is something you'll have to diet off I'm afraid.7 -
rianneonamission wrote: »Am I right in assuming you are a pear shape? Your body shape you will have to learn to love. As for spot reducing, that is not possible.
Making sure you have some muscle tone will help hold fat in place and make it appear better, but the fat itself is something you'll have to diet off I'm afraid.
Yes I am – my legs have always been bigger! I am already dieting and I have noticed changed to the rest of my body- but my legs seem to be the most stubborn place to visibly see the weight shifting unfortunately!1 -
Another pear-person here. When I was running more it seemed to help give my legs a bit more shape even if they are still the last place to hold onto bodyfat, I wasn't building muscle as such because I was still losing weight/ fat (and running a lot will help there too!) but it certainly didn't hurt to be using my leg muscles a lot more so they looked better under the insulation!
I've since embraced the thick-leg life, if they're never going to be slim and slender I can use genetics to my advantage and make them as well muscled as possible lol6 -
Alot of our shape is down to genetics. Losing fat will help. We can't spot reduce unfortunately
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I feel your pain, though from a different shape perspective. I'm relatively straight shape wise (I think they call it banana) and my problem area is my belly. My arms and legs slim down at just the thought of a diet, whereas my belly takes a long term diet. Patience is seeing it come down in size. At the end of the day you cannot change your body shape and you cannot spot reduce. Patience and learning to love your shape are the two most important things to help you set realistic goals in your journey to slim down.4
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Im sooo new to all of this (excercise, other than PT!) and I'm soo enjoying all of it (diet, movement!
)
I always keep in mind a really old saying I always heard.. to build muscle/size, use heavier weights and low repetitions.. to TONE your body, use lighter weights (or no weights, treadmill, elyptical, bike etc) and LOTS of reps or time..
This just makes sooo much sense, and so far its really proven true for me. I know nothing about "spot" anything, but I know what my body looked like at 20. Its still that basic shape, at 60. Now just need to tone and get a bit stronger. So far, WITH CICO burned in my head just second nature, lumpy bits ARE disappearing as I tone.
I agree with other posts, to the extent that you cant change the "shape" you started with when you were younger. But CICO really can help you to get back to your original size..
NEVER give up, its a healthier, stronger you that are shooting for, dont forget that as you plod on
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Nope. Not true at all (the bolded part). That's an old wives tale, parroted by trainers who don't know what they're talking about. Here's a good read on what "toning" is, and how to go about it: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-tone/Im sooo new to all of this (excercise, other than PT!) and I'm soo enjoying all of it (diet, movement! )
I always keep in mind a really old saying I always heard.. to build muscle/size, use heavier weights and low repetitions.. to TONE your body, use lighter weights (or no weights, treadmill, elyptical, bike etc) and LOTS of reps or time..
This just makes sooo much sense, and so far its really proven true for me. I know nothing about "spot" anything, but I know what my body looked like at 20. Its still that basic shape, at 60. Now just need to tone and get a bit stronger. So far, WITH CICO burned in my head just second nature, lumpy bits ARE disappearing as I tone.
I agree with other posts, to the extent that you cant change the "shape" you started with when you were younger. But CICO really can help you to get back to your original size..
NEVER give up, its a healthier, stronger you that are shooting for, dont forget that as you plod on
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I don't carry a lot of weight in my legs (tummy is my issue.). However, I have noticed a definite improvement in my legs' shape, tone and strength by:
1. Walking on treadmill on the steepest incline
2. Jumping rope
3. Jumping jacks
4. Yoga2 -
YEP YEP YESSS!0
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This saying has been around forever,
Ive never been in a gym or trainer (no need) before recently.
The trainer i used to get me started, never said it, but didnt dispute it either.
My program is based on this, I know with my diet and these types of excersises, I'm not just losing weight (again, not much to lose), but Im losing inches everywhere and safely melting down to my "former" shape.
Not sure why this is so important to shoot down? Its just common sense, and it works11 -
It's actually not common sense. It makes no sense at all if you have a basic understanding of physiology as it relates to exercise. If you had read the link, you'd understand why.This saying has been around forever,
Ive never been in a gym or trainer (no need) before recently.
The trainer i used to get me started, never said it, but didnt dispute it either.
My program is based on this, I know with my diet and these types of excersises, I'm not just losing weight (again, not much to lose), but Im losing inches everywhere and safely melting down to my "former" shape.
Not sure why this is so important to shoot down? Its just common sense, and it works
I'm not shooting anything down, per se - I'm trying to provide useful information for others reading the thread so they don't waste their time going down a path which won't give them the results they're looking for.
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This saying has been around forever,
Ive never been in a gym or trainer (no need) before recently.
The trainer i used to get me started, never said it, but didnt dispute it either.
My program is based on this, I know with my diet and these types of excersises, I'm not just losing weight (again, not much to lose), but Im losing inches everywhere and safely melting down to my "former" shape.
Not sure why this is so important to shoot down? Its just common sense, and it works
If you see the link Anvil posted above, toning is about losing fat to reveal the muscle under to gain a level of definition. You do this by stimulation of the muscle as you lose weight, most optimally by progressive overload to retain as much as possible. You can achieve this in many weight/rep ranges actually, it isn't so black/white as high vs low rep.
To gain muscle (eating in a surplus of calories) I use a variety of rep ranges, but mostly higher rep 8-12 range. If low reps and heavier weights was all it took to gain muscle, you could for example turn flat glutes to large glutes easily while losing weight by simply following a strength or powerlifting program. But it doesn't exactly happen that way.1 -
alicepalmer_ wrote: »All my weight seems to go to my legs... what are the best excercises everyone has for slimming down your legs ? (Especially calves)
My problem area is my stomach. My arms and legs got skinny before my tummy budged, so I'm guessing for you that last spot will be your legs. The universe has a cruel sense of humor sometimes!
The thing is that exercises work your muscles, not your fat. So they aren't going to affect where you store fat, just strengthen the muscles underneath.
If you aren't yet, try to add strength/resistance training to your routine. Any full body workout you enjoy enough to keep doing. Exercise burns some calories, and folks who diet while maintaining a solid foundation of muscle underneath tend to be happier with how they look overall. Sorry the answer isn't better than that, but it is what it is!
If you are interested in strength training routines, here's a thread with some suggestions:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p11 -
Another pear shaped female here. My thighs are the last place to lose. It's annoying... My waist will shrink down a pant size or two, but my thighs stay the same. It's rather ridiculous looking but *shrug* c'est la vie.4
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